FEDERAL EDUCATION UPDATEAssociation of Education Service AgenciesColorado Springs, CODecember 1, 2011

OVERVIEW ESEA

Reauthorization Waivers Title I Formula Fairness

Appropriations FY12 Super Committee/Deficit Commission IDEA Full Funding

Ed Tech Child Nutrition Rural Education Other Topics Advocacy Resources

CLIMATES Funding

Continued recession at state and local level Cessation of ARRA/EduJobs Actual and anticipated cuts from FY11 and FY12 Anticipated cuts from Debt Ceiling

Commission/Sequestration Political

Partisan. Middle ground moderates are gone. Gearing up to an election year

Federal Gridlock between House and Senate

State State legislatures were heavily impacted by last year’s

elections Strong push on education issues with grassroots

implications

ESEA REAUTHORIZATION Areas of Agreement

Measuring Growth Disaggregation Annual summative

assessment New higher standards New better

assessments SES & Choice, less

prescriptive

Area of Debate Accountability

framework - AYP or growth

Assessments –Quality/Type

Teacher evaluation – test weight/multiple measures/performance levels

Flexibility/transferability – how much/where

Charter schools – rules same or different

Comparability – the sleeper issue!!

ESEA REAUTHORIZATION: HOUSEH.R. 1891 "Setting New Priorities in

Education Spending Act" Full Committee Wednesday, May 25, 2011Ordered favorably reported, as amended, to the House by a vote of 23-16H.R. 2218, "Empowering Parents through

Quality Charter Schools Act"Full CommitteeWednesday, June 22, 2011Ordered favorably reported, as amended, to the House by a vote of 34-5. Voted out of full House 9/13

HR 2445 “State and Local Funding Flexibility Act”Wednesday July 14, 2011Ordered favorable reported, as amended, to the House by a vote of 23-17

ESEA REAUTHORIZATION: SENATE Marathon Mark Up in late October Bipartisan bill passed out of committee, 16-7

12 Ds and 4 Rs 144 filed amendments

24 adopted 10 rejected The balance were either withdrawn, not offered,

ignored, and/or will be offered on the floor

ESEA REAUTHORIZATION: SENATE Improvements

Eliminates impossible goal of 100% Eliminates AYP and AMOs Eliminates 2 percent testing cap Changes testing requirement for ELL from one

year to two years Permits shifting to measure growth while

retaining status testing Permit multiple measures Includes computer adaptive assessment Shifts control of accountability to the states Requires adoption of more accurate assessments

ESEA REAUTHORIZATION: SENATE Accountability Changes

Requires continuous improvement towards C/CR Maintains disaggregation Ranks schools, focus on bottom 5%

Achievement Gaps and Persistently Low Achieving Achievement based on test scores, graduation rates,

state summative test scores, and % on track for C/CR. Turn Around Models

Transformation, Strategic Staffing, Turnaround, Whole School Reform, Restart, Closure, State Flexibility and Rural Waiver

ESEA REAUTHORIZATION: SENATE Points of Concern

Comparability Changes Reliance on One-Time testing Treatment of Foster Kids Codification of RttT and i3

ESEA: REGULATORY RELIEF• Flexibility being offered in 11 specific areas• States have to adopt all three policy

priorities:– Higher standards– Differentiated accountability system– Teacher/principal evaluation system based on

growth• NCLB Waiver Watch: www.cep-dc.org • AASA position: we agree with the areas in

which flexibility is being provided but are opposed to the conditional nature of the process.

ESEA: REGULATORY RELIEF Conditional, quid-pro-quo deal, with states

having to adopt specific policy priorities I exchange for relief

To date, 39 states have expressed interest in the waivers

11 states submitted applications in the first round: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Tennessee

Next Deadline for Applying: Mid-February

TITLE I FORMULA FAIRNESS www.formulafairness.com Led by Rural School and Community Trust Current statute uses two weighting brackets to

determine an LEA’s Title I allocation Unintended consequence is that some larger,

less-poor schools can end up receiving more Title I dollars per-child than smaller, poorer districts

TITLE I FORMULA FAIRNESS All Children are Equal (ACE) Act (HR 2485) provides

legislative fix Turns down the volume on number weighting to ensure

that Title I dollars are distributed to concentrations of poverty

11 original co-sponsors: Representatives Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Ruben Hinojosa (D – TX), G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Dan Boren (D-OK), Mike Ross (D-AR), Tom Petri (R-WI), Lou Barletta (R-PA), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Todd Platts (R-PA), and Richard Hanna (R-NY).

Also joined by Reps. Roby (R-AL), Hartzler (R-MO), and Crawford (R-AR)

Urge your representative to sign on!

FY12 APPROPRIATIONS House: Education down over all, huge

increases for Title I and IDEA, cuts for many other ed programs

Senate: overall increase for education, lack funding increases for Title I and IDEA

Current Dear Colleague in the House; Sign on by Friday!

FY12: Started October 1, without a budgetFirst CR thru 11/18; Current CR thru 12/16Differing House and Senate Edu NumbersRole of final approps bills vs. CR vs. megabus

FY12 APPROPRIATIONS First CR Included $329 m in cuts to education

programs Title I: $163 million IDEA part B: $129 million Title II: $25 million Perkins: $12 million

Reach out to your Senator and Representative to urge them to reinstate the funds.

FY12 APPROPRIATIONS Joint Deficit Commission

Super Committee Roster: Senate: Murray (WA), Baucus (MT), Kerry (MA), Kyl

(AZ), Portman (OH), and Toomey (PA) House: Hensarling (TX), Becerra (CA), Camp (MI),

Clyburn (SC), Upton (MI), and VanHollen (MD)Has to identify $1.5 trillion in cuts over the next

10 yearsFailed to announce plan by Thanksgiving and

take vote by ChristmasIncludes required vote on Balanced Budget

Amendment House failed to pass BBA

FY12 APPROPRIATIONS Potential Cuts in the Deficit Debacle

Sequestration triggered 1/1/12 Cuts go in to effect 1/1/13 CBO estimates sequestration will be a 7.8%

across-the-board cut Estimated Education Impact:

Title I: $1.1 billion IDEA: 978 million Perkins: $136 million Head Start: $590 million

IDEA FULL FUNDING AASA’s #1 legislative priority Senator Harkin has introduced the IDEA Full

Funding Act (S 1403). We are waiting for the House partner bill.

Rep. Polis has a IDEA funding bill, but our focus is on the Harkin version

Urge your Senator to sign on the S 1403, and talk with your entire Congressional delegation about the funding pressures of IDEA and the importance of protecting and increasing IDEA funding in FY12 and debt ceiling conversations.

EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY: E-RATE FCC program that provides discounts

to help schools and libraries afford telecommunications services

Anti-Deficiency Act (S 297) Raise the spending cap Waiting for final action by the FCC on a

host of rules/notices:Gift ruleCIPARoll-over funds

EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY: ED TECH Title II Part D, Enhancing Education

Through Technology, E2T2 Zero-funded by the administration,

eliminated by the House in its ESEA eliminations bill

Not included in Senate Base Bill Sen. Bingaman introduced the ATTAIN

Act (S 1178), which allows for EETT-type program ($300 m trigger); Offered as amendment in Senate ESEA mark up

CHILD NUTRITION NSLP/SBP reauthorized last December AASA, NSBA and Council opposed unfunded mandates

within the law Increased reimbursement, higher nutrition

standards Set paid lunch price Set training and certification requirements Review indirect cost process

Continue to work on the regulations, which affirm our suspicions

Hullabaloo in the FY12 agriculture appropriations bill related to language that limits the use of FY12 funds for implementing new language

AMENDMENTS TO REAP Changes to REAP in Senate version of ESEA

Transition to new locale codes (move from 7/8 to 33, 41, 42, 43)

Allow districts to choose between RLIS and SRSA funding

If appropriation for REAP is increased, base grant moves from 20 to 25, max grant goes from 60 to 80

Changes not made to Senate Version of ESEA Transition to FRLP as poverty measure from 20% census

data

OFFICE OF RURAL EDUCATION POLICY ACT Bill introduced in May; Goal: Adding it to ESEA Would establish an Office inside the Dept of Ed

headed by a Director who wouldAdvise the Secretary on the needs of rural

schools and ensure that all regulations issued by the Department of Education explicitly consideration the impact that the regulations will have on rural schools and communities

maintain a clearinghouse on best practices and research for rural schools, produce an annual report to Congress, coordinate efforts throughout federal agencies related to rural schools

OTHER ISSUES Federal Mandates

RttT, I3, SIG Foster Care Bullying Common Core/Testing Consortia America’s Jobs Act

GET—AND STAY—INVOLVED! • Weigh in early, weigh in often• These decisions are made whether or not

you weigh in.• 15 minutes per month is all it takes.• Get to know your Senator/Representative,

and perhaps more importantly, their education staffer.

• Invite the Representative/Senator and staffer to your ESA. Anecdotes and stories have a lot of sticking power with this Congress. Let the face of your ESA be the one that sticks in their mind!

AASA/AESA ADVOCACY RESOURCES AASA Website: www.aasa.org AASA Blog: www.aasa.org/aasablog.aspx AASA Twitter: @Noellerson AASA Legislative Corps: Weekly Newsletter Advocacy Network: Monthly Update

QUESTIONS?Noelle EllersonAssistant Director,

Policy Analysis & Advocacynellerson@aasa.org